This sixth season of Growing Up Hip Hop introduced a few new faces. Bone Thugs-N-Harmony member Layzie Bone and Sakoya Wynter, the daughter of JoJo Hailey, joined the packed cast.
Joining an already established cast on one of the hottest reality shows of current times can come with its own set of pressures, but Layzie and Wynter were ready.
They sat down with us to discuss joining the show and how they plan to use this platform to push their brands forward.
Layzie Bone on why doing reality television makes sense to do now
Fans of the show are happy to have someone of Layzie’s caliber on the show, especially as they are trendsetters in the hip-hop world. However, many wonder why Layzie would choose this path to begin with.
According to the hip hop legend, he initially wanted to focus on other avenues before transitioning into reality TV.
“We have aspirations of acting and things like that, so, you know, from creating my own sitcoms to, you know, creating my own movies and things like that,” he told Shadow and Act in a recent interview.
He views reality television as a medium to expand his brand. “I feel like being on TV would give me along with acting classes and things that I’ve been doing like that,” he added. “It will open me up to another world that I hadn’t seen yet.”
This isn’t the first time Layzie Bone or Sakoya Wynter have been approached to do reality television
Though reality television is a common medium for legacy artists to revitalize their careers and for aspiring artists to put their names on the map, they can also get pigeonholed. It’s not something Layzie nor Wynter are worried about. In fact, they find GUHH the perfect opportunity as previous shows they were approached to do never panned out.
“I was approached a few times, but I just never was at the time that I was prepared,” Wynter said. “I wasn’t ready for something like that, but now I feel like it made more sense for me.”
Layzie dabbled in a few different projects before that never came to fruition. “I always wanted to do my own thing, so I almost had a couple shows,” he said. “I was working on Living In Harmony, but things happened where my brother got into a situation, so it just didn’t happen. It wasn’t time back then.”
Sakoya Wynter talks creating her own lane outside of her father’s legacy
With being the daughter of JoJo Hailey of Jodeci and KC & Jojo, Wynter understands the pressure she’s under. But she’s taking it all in stride and using her father’s expertise along the way.
“My dad is an extravagant vocalist. He does vocal arranging, he’s a great songwriter, so the bar is high and I have a lot of work to do,” she says. “I’ve been doing a lot of work, but I have a lot more work to do. My songwriting skills are almost as good, not that great yet, but it’s getting better. And as far as my vocals, I’m more of an autotune type of girl and we clash a lot on that. He gets on me about that. But it’s definitely a bar set with him that I have to reach. So I’m gradually getting there. I’m working out the kinks.”
Layzie Bone says he likes to act as a mentor to his castmates and newbies in hip hop
Another reason Layzie has chosen to be part of this specific show is due to the cast, as well as other up-and-coming artists in the game.
“I get to get to work with Sakoya and the rest of the cast,” he said. “I get to work with the younger audience right now, and that’s really what attracted me to show…So my role is just to offer advice and try to keep it peaceful and try to keep everybody moving forward, focus on the business more so than just to show all the time…I’m always going to put my two cents in on the music because that’s what I do. But my kids and the youngsters come to me. I’m an uncle to everybody.”
Growing Up Hip Hop airs Thursdays on WE tv.
